Most of works performed in an enterprise are accomplished using a computer, and computing environments of the enterprise are generally configured by connecting a plurality of client terminals to a server. In addition, electronic files created in a client terminal are stored in the client terminal or the server.
Recently, crimes of leaking electronic files stored in a client terminal of a company abruptly increase. Accordingly, it is required to develop an apparatus, a method and a system for managing electronic files created and edited at a client terminal.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual view showing the entire configuration of a file management apparatus and a server according to an embodiment of a conventional technique.
Referring to FIG. 1, the file management method of the conventional technique is performed by one or more file management apparatuses 121, 122 and 123 connected to a server 110. Each of the file management apparatuses 120 may be a client file management program module installed in a client terminal in order to perform the file management method, or a client terminal including the client file management program module.
Each of the file management apparatuses 120 includes a management policy section, and the management policy section receives previously set management policies from the server 110. The management policies include information on extensions of predetermined electronic files (e.g., doc, hwp, xls and the like) and information on predetermined keywords.
The client terminal is provided with a management space, which is a storage space of the server 110 related to the user of the client terminal, from the server 110.
The client terminal may generate a storage event for an electronic file created as a result of a work performed by the user. For example, after the user of the client terminal creates a document using a word processor, a storage event for storing the document into My Document folder in Drive C may be generated.
A determination unit included in the file management apparatus 120 determines whether or not a work file created or edited and to be stored in the client terminal is a management target file, i.e., a target to be managed, referring to the management policies.
For example, if the management policies include information such as “doc, hwp and xls” as information on the predetermined extensions, it is determined whether or not the work file is a management target file based on whether or not the work file generating the storage event is a Word file (i.e., a file having ‘doc’ as an extension).
In addition, if the management policies include information such as “Confidential, Accounting, and Finance” as information on the predetermined keyword information, it is filtered to determine whether or not the “Confidential, Accounting, or Finance” is included in the contents of the work file generating the storage event, and it is determined whether or not the corresponding work file is a management target file based on a result of the filtering.
If the work file generating the storage event at the client terminal is not a management target file as a result of the determination of the determination unit, the work file is stored in the storage space specified by the user of the client terminal. However, if the work file is a management target file, it is controlled not to store the management target file in the storage space of the client terminal.
Although the conventional technique may prevent leakage, copy, and theft of files by prohibiting files of a specific type from being stored in a local PC (a client terminal), basically, it cannot disable a temporary storing process performed when a document is created or updated at the local PC, and thus it is impossible to fundamentally prevent data from being remained in the local PC.
Furthermore, since the conventional technique does not describe the process performed to obtain an approval when the data processed in the local PC is copied and taken out using a USB memory or attached to an e-mail and transmitted to another user, it is difficult to transfer and share a file.